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US President Donald Trump delivered a year-end video message overnight after returning early from the holidays, highlighting his administration’s work to rapidly develop a Covid-19 vaccine and rebuild the economy. .
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump get off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. Source: Associated Press
As the end of his presidency approached, Trump interrupted his stay at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and returned to the White House a day ahead of schedule.
Upon his return, Trump released a video message on Twitter to underscore his administration’s work on the vaccine, economic stimulus controls and America’s “courage, strength and tenacity” in the face of challenges.
He called the vaccine, which is rolling out across the country, a “truly unprecedented medical miracle” and said it would be available to all Americans early next year. “We have to be remembered for what has been done,” Trump said in the nearly five-minute message.
The White House did not give a reason for Trump’s early return, and the time change means Trump will miss the glitzy New Years Eve party held annually at his Palm Beach club.
But it comes as tensions between the United States and Iran rise in the final weeks of his administration. There is concern in Washington that Iran may order more military retaliation for the January 3 assassination of Iran’s top military commander, General Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s initial response, five days after the deadly US drone strike, was a ballistic missile attack on a military base in Iraq that caused concussion brain injuries to about 100 US soldiers.
Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups launched a rocket attack on the US embassy compound in Baghdad on December 20. No one died, but Trump said days later that Iran was aware.
“A friendly health advice for Iran: If an American dies, I will hold Iran responsible. Think about it, ”Trump tweeted on December 23. He added: “We hear talks about additional attacks on Americans in Iraq.”
The White House announced the abrupt change to the president’s schedule Wednesday night (US time), hours after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said he would raise objections next week when Congress meets. rally to affirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the November Election.
It is the latest futile attempt by Trump and his allies to fight his electoral defeat and override the will of the voters, and dozens of previous challenges have failed, including in the Supreme Court. Former Attorney General William Barr and other administration officials have said they saw no evidence of massive voter fraud, as Trump has claimed.
Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, arrived in Mar-a-Lago after dark on December 23 and spent virtually every vacation focused on subverting the election results. That includes an effort to get Republican lawmakers to challenge the vote when Congress meets Jan. 6 to affirm Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College victory.
A group of Republicans in the Democratic-controlled House had already said they would object on Trump’s behalf. They needed at least one senator to join them in forcing votes in both houses, and Hawley stepped forward.
However, Republican objections will not prevent Biden from being sworn in as president on January 20 and Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat of California, a black woman of South Asian descent, from becoming vice president.
During his vacation, Trump also criticized Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other state election officials almost daily on Twitter for their loss to Biden in that state.
While he has remained focused on the effort to stay in power, Trump has remained silent on major events over the holidays, including a Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, the discovery of a new and apparently most contagious variant of the coronavirus in the United States and the death of elected representative Luke Letlow, Republican of La., due to complications from Covid-19.
Since losing the election, the usually talkative Trump has avoided associating with reporters, even those who accompanied him to Florida. He went so far as to exclude them from his Christmas Day comments to the troops, the kind of event the White House normally opens for news coverage.
Before leaving Washington, Trump surprised the Capitol by opposing spending on a government funding bill that had been combined with a new round of needed coronavirus relief that included payments of $ 600 to most Americans. Much of that expense had been requested by his own administration.
Trump jeopardized financial aid and flirted with a government shutdown by hinting that he would not sign the broad legislation unless lawmakers raised payments to $ 2,000, a sum requested by most Democrats and some Republicans.
Trump finally signed the bill on Sunday night after several days of uncertainty in exchange for Congressional votes on his demands. He also wants Congress to lift certain protections for social media companies and investigate their baseless claims of election fraud.
The House voted this week to increase payments, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, nearly closed the door Wednesday when he declared that Congress had provided enough pandemic aid. McConnell blocked attempts by Democrats to force a vote in that chamber on the higher payouts Trump sought.
